Abortion Law in New South Wales: Shifting from Criminalisation to the Recognition of the Reproductive Rights of Women and Girls

Jivan, VR; Forster, CM

Abortion Law in New South Wales: Shifting from Criminalisation to the Recognition of the Reproductive Rights of Women and Girls

Jivan, VR

Forster, CM

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Publisher:: Thomson Reuters
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Journal of Law and Medicine, 2017, 24
Issue Date:: 2017-09-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Jivan, VR https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3139-6496	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Forster, CM	en_US
dc.date.issued	2017-09-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Journal of Law and Medicine, 2017, 24	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	1320-159X	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/123452
dc.description.abstract	This article considers the legislative framework governing abortion in New South Wales and argues that the decriminalisation of abortion with no restrictions would more effectively support, recognise and facilitate the fulfilment of women and girls’ reproductive rights. It further recommends mandating exclusion zones, placing a duty on medical practitioners to perform surgical terminations or to prescribe medical (chemical) abortions or refer a client to medical practitioners who will, and the establishment of accessible, culturally appropriate facilities for surgical abortions across urban and rural areas. It begins by evaluating two models of abortion that have been introduced in Australia, the first created by the Abortion Law Reform Act 2000 in Victoria and the second created by amendments to the Health Act 1993 in 2002 in the Australian Capital Territory. While both models are praiseworthy for striving to balance the interests of varying interest groups, this article argues neither model fully recognises the reproductive rights of women and girls. Both models create differing regimes of medicalisation in which medical practitioners are given paternalistic gatekeeping responsibilities in relation to women’s access to abortion. In these models and in the criminalisation model currently in place in NSW, women in marginalised communities such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, immigrant, rural, remote and low socio-economic demographics are further marginalised and afforded less access to abortion.	en_US
dc.publisher	Thomson Reuters	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Journal of Law and Medicine	en_US
dc.title	Abortion Law in New South Wales: Shifting from Criminalisation to the Recognition of the Reproductive Rights of Women and Girls	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	24	en_US
utslib.location.activity	Australia	en_US
utslib.for	1801 Law	en_US
utslib.for	1114 Paediatrics and Reproductive Medicine	en_US
utslib.for	2201 Applied Ethics	en_US
utslib.for	18 Law and Legal Studies	en_US
utslib.for	11 Medical and Health Sciences	en_US
utslib.for	22 Philosophy and Religious Studies	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Law
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.consider-herdc	true	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	24	en_US

Abstract:

This article considers the legislative framework governing abortion in New South Wales and argues that the decriminalisation of abortion with no restrictions would more effectively support, recognise and facilitate the fulfilment of women and girls’ reproductive rights. It further recommends mandating exclusion zones, placing a duty on medical practitioners to perform surgical terminations or to prescribe medical (chemical) abortions or refer a client to medical practitioners who will, and the establishment of accessible, culturally appropriate facilities for surgical abortions across urban and rural areas. It begins by evaluating two models of abortion that have been introduced in Australia, the first created by the Abortion Law Reform Act 2000 in Victoria and the second created by amendments to the Health Act 1993 in 2002 in the Australian Capital Territory. While both models are praiseworthy for striving to balance the interests of varying interest groups, this article argues neither model fully recognises the reproductive rights of women and girls. Both models create differing regimes of medicalisation in which medical practitioners are given paternalistic gatekeeping responsibilities in relation to women’s access to abortion. In these models and in the criminalisation model currently in place in NSW, women in marginalised communities such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, immigrant, rural, remote and low socio-economic demographics are further marginalised and afforded less access to abortion.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/123452